Tiptoeing Out Of My Comfort Zone -- by Jane Kelley

My family left me in the Badlands.

Lee and Sofia were headed out on Notch Trail. According to the guidebook, this path would eventually follow a ledge to a dramatic view. It was "NOT recommended for anyone with a fear of heights."

The words that made my stomach churn made Notch Trail irresistible for Lee and Sofia. I wanted to go with them. But I couldn't. Not after I had cowered in the backseat as our car had zigged and zagged up 12000 feet of the Bear Tooth Highway. Nope. Not going to happen.

Instead, I opted for Door Trail. It was labeled easy and accessible. When the boardwalk ended, however, there would be a way to keep going. Travel at that point would be at my own risk.

I went beyond the easy boardwalk, where there was no trail, all the way to the land's end.

I scaled the sides of steep canyons, outwitted treacherous snakes, got lost in an unforgiving wilderness, and followed astronomical clues to find my way back. Or maybe I just had all those adventures in my mind.

Lee and Sofia said that I could easily have done their hike. It wasn't that frightening.

Maybe I could have. But for me it was better to go at my own pace. In my own way. Thinking that the trail was easy. And then being surprised that I wanted to keep going and going and going.

I often say that, if I'd I known how challenging it is to be a writer, I would never have embarked upon this journey. Luckily I didn't. Sometimes I find the knowledge absolutely terrifyingly paralyzing. I feel overwhelmed by the challenge of having a unique voice, creating likable characters, a strong plot, with something to say to kids I feel further and further from.

But then, somehow, I just start walking along. Bird by bird, and word by word. And before I know it, I've made up a world. Where there was none. A world far from my comfort zone.